What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a series of medical disorders involving fear, nervousness, worry and panic that interfere with a person’s ability to function
Causes of Anxiety. Although the basis of anxiety is mental – feelings and thoughts – it can manifest itself in physical ways too, causing health issues such as headache, high blood pressure, and problems sleeping. Stress from anxiety is linked to heart disease, cancer and lung illness.
The cause of anxiety has not been fully discovered, but researchers suspect changes in the brain, along with environmental stress, are key factors in inducing mental disorders such as anxiety. Chemical imbalances in the body may also be to blame and research suggests that anxiety may be inherited. A traumatic event can help trigger anxiety disorders in people who are genetically predisposed to anxiety, even when they have had no signs of the disorder previously.
Anxiety Treatment
These types of disorders can be treated with a combination of anti-anxiety medication, various forms of therapy, and diet and lifestyle changes have been known to help. Common medications used to treat anxiety include Ativan, Citalopram, Cymbalta, Effexor, Prozac, Zoloft and others. Each of these has unique benefits and side effects, but with so many choices on the market, it is easier than ever to find an effective treatment combination.
Coping with anxiety alone is not recommended. In addition to often debilitating panic attacks, depression and other mental changes, untreated anxiety can have significant negative effects on your body. With so many effective treatment options, suffering through the symptoms is unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
Anxiety sufferers who pursue treatment options such as medication and therapy can often find a dramatic reduction in the frequency and severity of their symptoms, and find that they can enjoy a return to a fairly normal life, free from the chains of anxiety. If you have been suffering from anxiety, you owe it to yourself to talk to your doctor and get the help you need.
See Natural cures for Anxiety here
What is Depression?
Depression is a condition where extreme sadness, hopelessness or feelings of worthlessness pervade a person’s daily life, interfering with their ability to function. A doctor will diagnose clinical depression when these feelings persist throughout the day for two weeks or more.
Symptoms of Depression
- Feeling hopeless or pessimistic
- Feeling anxious, sad or empty
- Trouble concentrating
- Difficulty remembering things
- Trouble making even simple decisions
- Feeling guilty, worthless or helpless
- Feeling irritable and restless for no apparent reason
- Sleep trouble, including insomnia or oversleeping
- Feeling fatigued, not enough energy to get through the day
- Changes in eating habits, either eating too much or having a decreased appetite
- Suicidal thoughts and actions
- General physical ailments, from aches and pains to digestive problems
- Disinterest in favorite activities that were once enjoyable
- Decreased libido
Most people do not suffer from all of these symptoms at once, but may experience a combination of these or experience them differently at different times.
Causes of Depression
The prevalent theory is that chemical imbalances of the brain lead to symptoms of depression, but proving any single cause is difficult. An MRI image of the brains of depressed people show them to be different from people who are not depressed, but does not help define a cause. The areas where significant differences were noted include the areas that affect mood, thought, sleep patterns, appetite, and behavior. Joseph J. Schildkraut of Harvard University believed that norepinephrine as the primary causative factor of depression in the now classic “catecholamine” hypothesis. He proposed that depression stems from a deficiency of norepinephrine.
8 Actions that can Help Depression
- Medication can be a great help in especially at the beginning if you’re in the pits deeply and don’t have the energy to do anything else. It’s important however to see a psychiatrist or physician who fully understands the effects of each drug and has the only legal authority to prescribe them.
- Force yourself get up early in the morning. Try to avoid sleeping in no matter how much you don’t feel like it.
- Exercise as much as you can. Exercise can naturally reduce the symptoms of depression.
- If your depression is seasonal or due to a lack of sunlight, purchase or borrow a sunlamp. A half hour a day under these lights can make a significant difference.
- Counseling from a good clinician can help shine light on negative self talk as well as present an alternative perspective to embrace.
- Talk to close friends and family about what you’re going through. Some causes of depression are due to an emotional block that can once at the surface loses its power. Getting it out can be a key to getting over your depression.
- Meditate. Meditation has proven to reduce stress, cortisol levels and increase ones sense of well being. There are a few articles on meditation here.
- Reduce intake of carbs particularly sugars, while at the same time increasing protein intake. The same is true for caffeine and alcohol.
